Montréal, January 11, 2013 — It is with sadness and regret that we learned that Mr. Jean-Pierre Allaire, Chairman of Héma-Québec's board of directors, passed away yesterday, January 10.

A graduate in Administration – Accounting, from the École des hautes études commerciales (HEC) in Montréal and Chairman of the Ordre des comptables agréés du Québec’s board of directors from 2007 to 2009, Mr. Allaire joined the Héma-Québec’s board of directors in May 2005 as the representative of the business community and had served as its Chairman since August 2008.

"Jean-Pierre Allaire was a committed administrator, dedicated to Héma-Québec's cause. Over the past seven years, he has dedicated his experience as a chartered accountant and in terms of corporate governance to the benefit of Héma-Québec's board of directors," stated Dr. Jean De Serres, President and Chief Executive Officer of Héma‑Québec. "On behalf of all the personnel, I offer my sincere condoleances to Mr. Allaire's family and loved ones.”

On an interim basis, he will be replaced by Mrs. Martine Carré, member of the board of directors since December 2007 as a representative of the recipients of blood products.

About Héma-Québec

Héma-Québec's mission is to efficiently provide adequate quantities of safe, optimal blood components, substitutes, human tissues and cord blood to meet the needs of all Quebecers; to provide and develop expertise along with specialized and innovative services and products in the fields of transfusion medicine and human tissue transplantation.

Héma-Québec encompasses 1,300 employees, over 300,000 donor visits to blood drives per year, 16,000 volunteers and more than 500,000 blood products delivered annually to Québec hospitals to meet the needs of patients.